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The quantity of illicit drugs seized by Derbyshire police on a daily basis has skyrocketed, according to new figures.

Last year, police seized record breaking amounts of cannabis, heroin, cocaine and amphetamines from the county's streets.

In this county alone, around 641 kilograms of cannabis was taken off the streets.

That amounts to a 600% increase from the year before and is equivalent to an average of one gram every 49 seconds.

In other words, police were taking in about 1.4 kilograms of the Class B drug every day - the same weight as a big bag of sugar.

A Class B drug can carry up to five years in prison for possession, and up to 14 years for supply and production.

Class C drugs carry a lesser sentences while possession of Class A drugs can carry a sentence of up to seven years in prison.

Data from the Home Office has revealed there has been a huge surge in the amount of drugs seized in Derbyshire, not just cannabis.

In particular, between 2018 and 2019 amphetamine seizures hit their highest levels since modern records began a decade ago.

Amphetamines such as Speed are a powerful stimulant that keeps people alert, usually sold as a white powder.

According to the figures, last year Derbyshire police took in almost double the amount of the drug compared with the year before.

Also seeing seizures on the rise were crack and heroin, which both doubled, and anabolic steroids, which saw a thirteenfold increase.

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Police find a dose of anabolic steroids every 19 minutes and a gram of amphetamines is found every four minutes.

Worryingly, a gram of heroin is found in this county every three hours and a gram of crack found at least twice a day.

On the other hand, not all drugs saw increasing amounts seized in Derbyshire last year and some even fell.

The amount of cocaine and ecstasy, both stimulants, found by police fell year on year, as did the amount of the opiate methadone.

Nationally, some drugs were being seized in record quantities last year.

Across England and Wales, 9.6 tonnes of cocaine were seized by the police and Border Force in 2018 to 2019.

This is the biggest haul of cocaine seized since records began in 1973.

Seizures of other drugs, such as ecstasy and crack, more than doubled in the same year.

For more information and advice about staying safe around drugs, visit the Frank website here.

A spokesman for Derbyshire police said: "Seizures of drugs can vary widely from year to year for a variety of reasons.

“Last year, as a result of pro-active policing, a large seizure of cannabis was made which has resulted in a larger overall total for the year.

“The same happened with amphetamines - with a single large seizure last year inflating the numbers following quantities seized in 2018.

“While the seizures are large it does not correspond to an increase in drug use in Derbyshire, which has stayed at a stable level. What the results show in fact is that more drugs have been taken off the street helping disrupt the supply and ensure criminals profiting from the supply of drugs are brought to justice.

“Anyone who suspects drug dealing of any kind in their community should pass on their concerns in confidence to their local policing team or via Crimestoppers.”